Speculation has been circulating online that Juanma López, a former Ferrari design lead, has joined the Zhijie automotive brand.

This follows earlier social media posts from Zhijie's executive management highlighting the brand's recruitment of top-tier automotive talent, including a former Ferrari chief designer and veteran chassis tuning teams from BMW and Aston Martin.

A screenshot shared by a digital blogger, allegedly showing a discussion about the rumored move between a Ferrari public relations director and another user, fueled these claims.

XPeng Inc. (XPEV) Vice President Thomas has now stepped forward to clarify the situation. He stated that the blogger's claims took advantage of Juanma López's lack of Chinese language proficiency.

He further revealed that Juanma López is actively working on his first project since joining XPeng Inc. (XPEV) and will present it at an upcoming global launch event, adding that "Lao Hu (Juanma) is doing very well at XPeng."

Official channels for Harmony Intelligent Driving and the Zhijie brand have not commented on the screenshot in question.

An investigation into the social media account of the mentioned Ferrari PR director did not locate the content shown in the circulated image.

Authenticity of the Information

It is important to note that the screenshot being widely shared appears to be a single, possibly edited image, casting significant doubt on its authenticity.

What is currently confirmed is that designer Juanma López remains employed at XPeng Inc. (XPEV).

Background on the Designer

Juanma López, whose career includes design roles at Genesis Design, Lamborghini, Ferrari, Audi, and SEAT, has worked on notable models such as the Audi Allroad Quattro Concept and the Ferrari LaFerrari.